


Lost & Found

by quirky_n_artsy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Cassandra Clare - Freeform, I don't know I just wanted to write fanfic, Shadowhunters - Freeform, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Freeform, mundane meets shadowhunters, read the books before you watch the show, shadowhunters fanfic, srsly the books are good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quirky_n_artsy/pseuds/quirky_n_artsy
Summary: A mundane girl, Leda, stumbles upon a new, fantastical reality that's been living side by side with hers all along... But if she's never known it, how come she's so involved in it?
Kudos: 3





	Lost & Found

**Author's Note:**

> None of these characters (with the exception of Leda and Alex) are mine- the Shadowhunter universe and characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

A cool breeze pleasantly washed over Leda as she strode out of the coffee shop, hot coffee in hand. Alex was only a few steps behind hastily shoving change into the front pocket of his jeans while pointedly holding full-to-the brim coffee away from his white t-shirt. 

“You had time to get a cap, Alex,” Leda pointed out.

“Well, the coffee is painfully hot and needs to cool off. It's like the baristas want us to suffer while drinking it.”

“You also had time to put your drink down and properly deal with your change.”

“I'm working on it,” Alex said as he stuffed the last of his money in his pocket. Leda playfully smiled at his struggle that she was so used to. Alex never liked lingering in shops longer than necessary and always ended up with an armful of change and knick-knacks that ended up being piled carelessly in his room. That, or a cup full of coffee that typically ended up on his clothes.

“We could slow down, you know. Today is one of the only days we don’t have to rush anywhere,” Alex noted in a light voice. Leda slowed her pace. Alex was right, but she was so used to the quickness that was prevalent during the week: the slow yet also fleeting school day, social lives outside of school, and jobs in between the two. It didn’t help that all of these things were sprinkled across the city of Manhattan.

Leda and Alex strolled around the city, talking to each other only how close friends would; a familiar routine that grew on them over the past few years when their parents became slightly laxer on their kids wandering about the city. Leda and Alex typically followed the same route of sidewalks that was ingrained in their heads; a path they could mindlessly follow. So it was startling for Leda as she turned a corner off of East 64th Street and saw a magnificent gothic building towering overhead that she had never seen before. It’s massive, dark shadow crept along the sidewalk and adjacent road, threatening to swallow up more pavement. She and Alex knew this area so well, so why had she only noticed this building now? It looked almost like a cathedral, but some instinct was telling her that it wasn’t. The facade was detailed, eerily beautiful, and almost intimidating in a sense that could be best applied to old gothic architecture. Spires and pinnacles curling from the top of the building pointed dangerously into the sky, intricate designs such as crockets and spikes enveloping its surface. A wave of shock hit Leda sharply: a mixture of disbelief, bewilderment, and another feeling that she couldn’t describe. She just couldn’t believe she’d never seen this building before. Tall double doors indicated an obvious yet elegant entrance, and a glint of shiny brass metal caught her eye as she noticed a plaque that read _ New York Institute _ . 

What on earth did that mean? 

“Leda are you okay?” Alex questioned, puzzled by her sudden stop and bewildered staring. He followed his eyes to where she was staring and saw an abandoned, ruined church. 

“Why are you staring like that? It’s just a dilapidated church.” 

Leda snapped back to the present, feeling as if she had suddenly come up from underwater, and confusedly turned towards Alex. 

“It’s far from dilapidated. Alex, I’ve never seen that building before. How have we not noticed this? I swear there was nothing there before.” Confusion rose up in Alex as he looked back and forth between the lot of the ruined church and Leda. “That ruined church has always been there,” Alex pointed at it. “Are you seeing something I’m not? ‘Cause you seem awfully surprised at seeing something you’ve never taken a second glance at the thousand times we’ve walked here before.” 

Thoughts raced through Leda’s mind, disbelief and bewilderment making her lightheaded. She turned her attention back towards the building as if to see that her imagination didn’t make it up. Her vision fazed for not even a second, and Leda almost saw what Alex was describing. But before she could make anything out of it, her vision focused again on the eerie building. 

“So you’re telling me that you don’t see a completely conspicuous gothic cathedral right there?” Leda vigorously gestured.

“What? No- what are you talking about?” Concern mixed with the confusion crept into Alex’s voice.

“I’m-” But a sudden shift of movement and new voices coming from the direction of the building diverted Leda’s attention. A few people spilled out of the immense double doors, their heads bobbing up and down rapidly. Leda couldn’t make out much from such a distance, but she realized that the people were running as if they needed to be somewhere desperately. And they ran kind of strangely too- like they’ve practiced solely on running their whole lives. She also noticed that they were all dressed in black, which she thought was odd since the sun was wickedly blaring down on the city. Hell, this whole situation was odd. The last thing she saw was a glint of light reflected off of something strapped to one of the person’s waist. And as quickly as they appeared, they had disappeared around the corner of a tall building. 

“Alex- you saw those people, right? I mean there’s definitely a high standard for weird in the city, but in the middle of the upper east- that was almost suspicious.” Leda’s voice barely reached her own ears, it seemed so far away to her. 

“What the hell are you talking about? What people?” Alex looked wildly around to see what people Leda was talking about. “What were they doing? They weren’t dealing or anything, right? Actually that’s not odd at all for a rich neigh-”

“No no no, those running people Alex, the ones dressed all in black? They went right around that corner,” Leda pointed to where she saw them disappear. Now Alex didn’t try to hide his concern for his friend. 

“You’re really worrying me now- there were no running people coming from that obviously wrecked church. No one was around there at all.” 

“But- there were people- there was-” Leda stumbled over her words and let out a frustrated sigh. They couldn’t have been looking at the same place. 

“I’m talking about RIGHT THERE, that building,” Leda vividly gestured again with both arms at the structure and started to walk across the street to it so as to make sure her friend knew what she was talking about. But Alex grabbed her sleeve before she could make it far. 

“I don’t think we should go over there. We should head back, Leda.” Leda slackened her arms so that they fell to her sides and paused. She saw the resolution in Alex’s eyes and resigned to his suggestion with another less obvious sigh. Maybe it was better if they left before the argument escalated or they thought of each other as lunatics conjuring hallucinations.

“Okay,” Leda quietly resigned, following Alex who nodded and started retracing their steps out of the upper east side. 

~*~ 

The following day, Leda found herself wandering central park by herself, mulling over what had happened the other day, although she felt as if she was losing grip on some of the memories. The late-day sun was beating down on the city just as strongly as it had yesterday. She remembered the feeling of it on her back and thinking how strange it was for the running people to wear all black under the hot weather. She couldn’t remember much more about those people she saw, except that Alex never saw them even though they were in plain sight. He also didn’t see the ridiculously obvious cathedral-like structure which seemed to have dropped out of nowhere. Was she insane? Or was Alex insane? The latter didn’t seem as plausible though since Leda just saw a whole building appear where there’s never been one. Maybe this was just a serious case of the Mandela effect. Maybe Leda was dehydrated and hallucinating that day. Yeah, that must be it…

Leda automatically collapsed down on a park bench. But what if it was real? What if her head wasn’t making it up? Was there something wrong with her friend then? Leda huffed a dry laugh. Of course, it couldn’t have been real. But the thought didn’t settle with her; she couldn’t accept it. Confused and annoyed, she leaned back on the park bench and tilted her head up. She was looking up at a lattice of branches above her, the sun shining beautiful, patterned silhouettes of leaves on Leda and the bench. Leda tried her best to quiet her mind, but to no avail. She let out a puff of frustration as she leveled her head again. She sat for a while watching time pass by in the park until she saw a trio intently passing her by on the sidewalk she was sitting at. They were wearing all black and had an aura of authority with every step they took. At first, Leda paid them no mind, but quickly she realized they looked familiar. A sharp gasp involuntarily left her mouth. These were the people from yesterday, dressed exactly the same. Their backs already to her, one of them had heard her gasp and turned his head in response. Once he caught sight of who had gasped, he frowned and slowed a little. Still keeping his frown on Leda, he then tapped one of his companion’s shoulders, a tall and muscular blond. He said something in a low voice to the tall blond, who then slowed to a stop. The three of them huddled temporarily, talking in low voices and curiously eyeing Leda. Confused, Leda also frowned at the group, who had then broken up and had started approaching her. 

“Can I help you?” Tall Blond questioned in a light tone. Leda was a little taken aback, not prepared for them to approach her. 

“N-no. I’m sorry,” She managed to stutter. She flitted her eyes to the third, not having gotten a good look at him before. He was tall, with black, mussed-up hair that stood out on his head at different angles. His fashion choices were definitely unique and flashy, but she admired that. He also had cat eyes. Leda’s eyes grew large at noticing that, which she tried her best to suppress. Although he definitely caught her expression because he winked at her. These were not like any contact lenses she’s seen before. 

“Let’s just tell her, Jace,” Cat Eyes sighed. “Otherwise she’ll go insane seeing you bunch carry about with your… shadowhunter activities.” One of the last phrases he used Leda didn’t recognize, but she didn’t question it, still processing these three strangers and whatever they were talking about. “I’ve seen her notice you all before,” Cat Eyes added, quiet and observant. Tall Blond, apparently the one named Jace, gave a thoughtful pause, then sighed. 

“This isn’t going to be a short explanation, Magnus,” Jace shook his head. 

“Sure it is,” the First One chirped. He took another step towards Leda, looking her in the eyes.“This is kinda hard to believe, but...we are the Men In Black.”

“What?”

“Simon,” The cat-eyed man—seemingly Magnus— scolded the First One. He pinched the space between his eyebrows trying to hide a smile. 

“Hey,” Simon put his hands up defensively. “I only needed to do that once. This was gonna be the only opportunity I would’ve had.”

“What are you talking about?” Leda couldn’t keep up with the conversation. She had no idea what they were saying. Jace gave the others a knowing look before turning to Leda again.

“Look,” Jace said, taking a couple of steps closer. “Not everyone can see us, but obviously you can. What I’m going to say next is gonna be hard to believe, but I promise you we aren’t crazy creeps. And I’ll try to keep this as concise as possible.” They didn’t seem crazy either. For some inexplicable reason, Leda hung onto every word the three guys said, truth ringing in their voices. They explained that Simon and Jace were called shadowhunters, and what that word meant. They explained the odd tattoos that marked up every part of their skin which Leda had eyed before but hadn’t put serious thought into (there were plenty of New Yorkers with weirder tattoos). They explained that Magnus was a warlock and that there were others like him. And they explained that childhood magical creatures were real; at least faeries, werewolves, warlocks, and vampires, who were part of the Downworld. They didn’t explore too deeply into the subjects they brought up, but Leda was grateful for that. Believe it or not, it was hard to comprehend that a whole-ass fantastical reality existed within hers. But somehow, it kind of made sense. Their explanations cleared up so many seemingly insignificant, forgotten memories tucked far away in Leda’s mind that resurfaced while they were talking. Memories of beautiful multicolored lights dancing in bushes, of a group of ashen- looking teenagers lingering in the park in the early hours of the morning, their smiles revealing pearly white fangs. At the time Leda was young enough that she could excuse these remembrances as an overactive imagination, but now she realized she saw another reality that wasn’t revealed to other normal people. 

“The only reason we told you this is for your safety. First off, we don’t want you to interfere with shadowhunters or downworlders when you see us because we don’t want to involve people like you into possible danger. And second, we don’t want you to think you’ve become psychotic because you see things other people don’t. But there are other people like you- normal people who have the Sight, which is the reason why you see us. Although they are pretty rare,” Magnus cleared up, his cat eyes sparkling. 

“You’re pretty unique,” Simon pointed out. Leda’s mouth twitched up into a small smile. 

“I think that’s enough,” Jace said, turning towards the others with his back to Leda. 

“Right. We don’t want to overwhelm her,” Magnus lowered his voice as if to make sure Leda wouldn’t eavesdrop. 

“We also need to get going. This took up too much time,” Jace added in an equally quiet tone. Magnus turned to Leda one last time. 

“My last remarks are— if you haven’t carried away anything else from this enlightening conversation— you’re not crazy, just special,” Magnus chirped with a playful smile, then strolled away. Simon and Jace followed, Simon giving Leda a slight nod as he passed. 

~*~

Simon could heavily relate to Leda’s situation on a personal level, but he didn’t tell her that. At the time he thought it would just be best to keep quiet about that so that he wouldn’t overwhelm her with information. But now he wished that he did inform her, so she wouldn’t feel alone or insane. He looked back over his shoulder at her. She was still sitting at the bench, her head resting on her hands, eyes trained to the ground. He regretted not saying anything to her, but by now, there was nothing else he could do. 

~*~

When the shadowhunters and warlock had left, Leda continued to sit on the bench for another hour or so. After the talk, Leda felt a sea of emotions crashing upon her: she was glad, extremely confused yet enlightened, exhilarated, overwhelmed, and honestly a little terrified. Now that she knew of this whole other dangerous world, would its perils affect her? But it didn’t affect her before, so it probably wouldn’t now…

She rose from her seat, briskly walking through the park, unsure of her destination but knowing she should leave the park before twilight was enveloped by the night. She ended up deciding, a few minutes after she left the park, that she wanted to go home, exhaustion starting to claim her body. Keeping a steady, brisk pace, Leda started on her way home. She didn’t want to take the subway or a taxi because she didn’t have money on her (which she just realized was a stupid mistake) and she didn’t want to bother anyone she knew who had a car. Besides, her journey wasn’t too far. Leda passed the city by in a blur, barely taking in her surroundings but knowing the way home. That is until she heard peculiar noises ahead of her. Her curiosity made her feet move faster towards the source of the noise, which grew louder as she drew closer to it. Leda found that it was coming from inside an abandoned building. It’s facade had seen better days: time had weathered it down to a lifeless shell. However, the sounds of people from it’s interior suggested it did have life. Curiosity again being the main driving force of her feet (and beating exhaustion), Leda went inside. Golden light flooded the room, illuminating rows and rows of stalls and tents that filled the vast hall that contained them. Unlike the outside of the building, the hall looked as if it had been frozen in time since the 19th century. Beautiful arches that stretched into the darkness of the domed ceiling were barely illuminated by the light produced in the hall. That’s when Leda started to realize that the light wasn’t coming from the ceiling or spotlights: it was coming from small, floating orbs of light. Shock struck her as she realized that that wasn’t normal, and leveled her gaze to the crowds of people. That’s when she noticed they weren’t people- they were downworlders. Faeries, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves were selling and purchasing the variety of products that were displayed in stalls. Products in this context cover such a variety of things that Leda didn’t know if that was the right word. Downworlders were selling everything from food to fabrics, to jewelry and accessories, to bottled liquids— which Leda could only assume were potions— and herbs. But that was just the beginning— because there was a much darker theme to the items being sold: deadly sharp, darkly tinted weapons, body parts that Leda didn’t recognize as belonging to a human or animal of her world, and even small creatures in cages, who were either clawing to get out or sat nearly lifeless behind the bars. There were even signs outside of tents advertising to sell secrets and other sensitive information. Fear and nausea were rising within Leda, so she quickly turned away to find the entrance she came through. Why couldn’t she find it? She hadn’t come that far into the building, how was she lost already?

“You, there!” A light voice drawled at Leda, and she spun around to find it’s source. She turned to find a faerie with blue and green skin, her vibrant violet irises unusually large. She was standing behind a table that was cluttered with all sorts of trinkets and accessories. “You look lost. Need to find your way again?” She picked up one of the many shiny objects on her table. “Use this medallion to always deliver you to where you wish to be. You will never be lost again, miss Wayland.” The faerie’s eyes glittered mischievously. Was she talking to someone else? Leda looked around to see if she was talking to anyone else, but no one was paying attention to the faerie. 

“Do you mean me? Because I’m not… whoever you called me,” Leda said, perplexed. Another faerie from a different stall came over to stand next to the other, close enough to whisper in her ear, although she didn’t bother doing that. 

“She doesn’t know who she is, Celia. She’s the lost one of that bloodline- the one they took to the Seelie Court all of those years, remember?” The second faerie announced loud enough for Leda to hear, giving her a side glance and a smirk. Waves of confusion crashed on Leda, her vision blurring from it. 

“What are you talking about?!” Leda yelled, not meaning to. As soon as she had, she felt a light pressure on her shoulder and spun around to see what it was. 

“Is there a problem here?” A gentle yet firm voice inquired at Leda's shoulder. A young woman, decently shorter than Leda with fiery red hair was facing the faeries. She was wearing all black and had the same tattoos that the shadowhunters she saw before wore. She must be one of them. The first faerie sneered at the young woman.

“You have no business to be meddling with our interaction- get lost, shadowhunter,” the first faerie spat.

“I think I do, actually.” The young woman confidently said. She turned to Leda, whispering under her breath “follow me,” and Leda did. She wanted to leave the situation and the building as soon as possible, and maybe this woman could help her. 

“Can you help me get out of here? I'm completely lost and need to leave,” Leda said, desperation creeping into her voice.

“Of course. Just keep your head down and ignore anyone else who tries to get your attention.” The woman took on a quick pace, leading the way and seeming to know where she was going.

“I'm Clary by the way,” the young woman turned her head to smile at Leda. “Would you mind coming somewhere with me? I know it might seem strange for me to ask, but I promise you'll be safe,” Clary assured. Leda nodded her head. Something about Clary made Leda trust her, but she also just needed the quickest way out of there. 

~*~ 

Clary’s attention was snapped away from her current mission at the shadow market when she heard a faerie closeby call someone by Wayland. As far as anyone knew, the Wayland line had died off, so it was unusual to hear someone being addressed as one. She looked over to see a mundane girl standing in front of the faerie, looking incredibly lost, confused, scared, and vulnerable. Perplexed, Clary looked over at Alec who had also come to the shadow market with her, who appeared just as confused as Clary felt. 

“What is going on?” Alec asked slowly, his squinted eyes glued on the faerie and mundane. 

“We should go check it out,” Clary stated grimly, and Alec turned his head to her. “Depending on how this pans out, we may have to take her to the institute.” Alec nodded, not arguing with Clary. His gaze switched back to the young woman in front of the faerie again, yet the look in his eyes seemed distant. Alec was probably thinking of how they had brought Clary to the institute when they first met her. 

After she and Alec had heard the other faerie who joined the first mention of the girl being “the lost one of that bloodline- the one they took to the Seelie Court all of those years,” they had given each other looks of bewilderment, more perplexed than before. Faeries couldn’t lie, so what the hell were they talking about? This was definitely a bizarre situation. Currently, Alec was talking with the faeries who the mundane girl had encountered, and Clary was leading her out of the market. She quickly marked up a persuading rune, because she knew from the moment after what the second faerie said that it was urgent to persuade the mundane girl to follow her to the institute. 


End file.
